Apple’s latest beta for iOS 26.2 contains the clearest sign yet that iPhone users will be able to replace Siri with third‑party voice assistants — but for now the option is limited to Japan.
What Apple has revealed
The iOS 26.2 beta 3 includes code and system strings that point to a new “Side Button App” setting allowing a long press of the side button to launch a voice‑based conversational app instead of Siri. Sample interface text found in the build references screens such as “Side Button Settings,” “Select Another Default Side Button App,” and warnings like “Press and Hold to Speak is not available while the Side Button is assigned to %@.”
Apple has confirmed the change in documentation for developers, noting that in Japan people may place an action on the side button that “instantly launches your voice‑based conversational app.” That documentation also explains developer expectations for immediate audio interaction when the app is launched.
How developers can prepare
Apple’s guidance for apps that want to become the side‑button assistant includes concrete technical steps:
- Add the appropriate side‑button access entitlement to the app’s .entitlements file.
- Provide an App Intent that conforms to the activate app intent schema.
- In the intent handler, navigate to the conversational scene and start an audio session (for example using AVFoundation) so users can speak immediately when the side button is held.
- Official release notes for iOS 26.2 and any regional availability language from Apple.
- Apple’s follow‑up developer guidance clarifying privacy, entitlement approval, and integration limits.
- How quickly major assistant vendors (Google, Amazon, OpenAI‑backed apps, etc.) add the required entitlements and intents to be selectable as side‑button assistants.
Developers familiar with Apple’s App Intents framework can find the platform tools and APIs on Apple’s developer site. For background on App Intents, see Apple’s documentation at developer.apple.com.
Why Japan first: regulation and timing
The move is widely understood as Apple complying with new regulatory requirements. Japan’s Mobile Software Competition Act, which takes effect in December 2025, requires platform holders to give third‑party apps access to certain core OS functions and forbids favoring a vendor’s own services for hardware‑level interactions. Apple’s recent developer guidance and the iOS beta language specify that the feature will initially be available only to iPhone users with Japanese Apple IDs located in Japan — consistent with a region‑targeted compliance rollout.
Regulatory pressure is not unique to Japan. The European Union’s Digital Markets Act contains interoperability and default‑setting rules that many observers say could force Apple to provide similar choices in the EU. Bloomberg and other outlets have previously reported Apple planning EU changes to voice assistant defaults; Apple’s code and the wider iOS 26.2 work suggest the company is building an approach that can be extended to other regions as rules require.
What this could mean for users and the market
For users, the change promises a meaningful new choice: instead of being tied to Siri, people could assign assistants such as Google’s Gemini, Amazon’s Alexa, or other conversational AIs to the side button. That could reshape how people interact with iPhone voice features — assistant selection would shift competition from platform lock‑in to feature quality, integrations, and responsiveness.
For Apple, opening the side button creates commercial and strategic questions. Allowing third‑party assistants may reduce some of Siri’s exclusivity inside iOS, potentially pushing Apple to accelerate improvements to its own assistant (including ongoing work around Apple Intelligence). At the same time, opening that access could create new revenue or partnership models — for example, deals that mirror past search‑engine arrangements — though Apple has not signaled any such commercial framework.
Industry analysts also note upside for users: better multilingual support, specialized assistants tailored to tasks, and more rapid innovation from competing AI services. The risk, they caution, is fragmentation of the tightly integrated iOS experience and fresh privacy and security trade‑offs depending on how deeply third‑party assistants integrate with system features.
Multiple perspectives and unanswered questions
Supporters of the change — including regulators and many users — see it as a win for choice and competition. Critics and privacy observers warn that third‑party assistants might require broader system access to match Siri’s integrations, potentially exposing more data or increasing attack surface if not tightly governed.
Apple’s developer guidance addresses some technical expectations (for example, starting an audio session immediately), but the company has not published full details on user privacy controls, the limits of system integration, or how handoffs between assistants and system features (like Home, Wallet, or Shortcuts) will be managed. It is also unclear whether Apple will permit assistants to render their own interface on the Home Screen or will constrain them to an in‑app experience.
Timeline and what to watch next
iOS 26.2 is currently in beta; the Japan‑targeted assistant switch lines up with the December 2025 implementation of Japan’s law, making a broader iOS release a plausible next step. Observers expect Apple to expand availability to other regions — notably the EU — if and when local rules require it.
Key things to watch:
The change marks a notable shift in how voice assistants may operate on iPhone hardware. Whether it becomes a platform‑level invitation to new rivals or a narrowly scoped compliance feature will depend on Apple’s rollout choices and how regulators, developers, and users respond.